Another Saint Petersburg LGBT Agency Fined Half a Million
Another draconian penalty issued by the court of St. Petersburg to a gay organization. Following the film festival "Side by Side" 500,000 rubles fine (ˆ11,600) is to be paid to the state by St. Petersburg's "Vikhod" ("Exit").
The verdict of the court was immediately welcomed by orthodox christian from the "United Russia" Mylonov. "...A proper and honorable decision. Congratulations!" - wrote the author of the controversial homophobic law on the "Exit's" social page. He had been following the developments of the trial since morning.
On June 26 continue the proceedings against the top manager of "Exit", who may also face a fine.
Russian LGBT organizations, as observers point out, got the highest penalties provisioned under the law on non-govermental organizations. In the past the "foreign agents" had been fined no more than 300 thousand rubles (ˆ7,000). Thus, the courts have confirmed the legal penalties for NGO "The Voice", which is likely to disintegrate as a result.
Arguments of the Prosecutor's Office about the political activities of "Exit" were built on the basis of the documents allegedly obtained during the inspection. But defense attorney pointed to the court that the documents themselves had not been obtained from the organization. Their origin is unknown... In particular, the lawyer of "Exit" petitioned for the exclusion of the document called "application" from the case, that had no stamp of "Exit" on it. Despite the fact that Prosecutor Vereshchagin was unable to explain how and where this document had been obtained, the judge rejected the request.
The lawyer repeated the principal arguments of the defense: the organization is not involved in politics. Its work is aimed at philanthropic and charitable purposes. The prosecutors presented no evidence of precisely what "public foundations" the agency had been trying to "undermine". "Apparently, the prosecution believes that the public policy in this case implies persecution of LGBT citizens...", - concluded the gay activists.
What will happen to gay organizations of St. Petersburg, being the only those active in Russia, is still unknown. A trial is taking place in respect of even the charity fund, financing the largest "Russian LGBT Network".
Earlier, the "Side by Side" festival had been fined 500,000 rubles (ˆ11,600) for its political activities, and announced fundraising campaign to pay the fine. If the money is not collected, the festival's existence is threatened.
"Exit", by the way, announced the fundraising in advance. "Today prosecutors accuse us that our human rights work is the dictate of other countries, and our organization - a "foreign agent". "For refusing to enroll in the registry of "foreign agents" we are facing a fine of up to 1,6 million rubles..." - sais the official site of "Exit." "We are not a "foreign agent" and not anybody else's agent, we work for the benefit of Russian citizens, protecting their rights and helping the state to fulfill its obligations to protect the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation", - continue the gay activists, asking for support in a time of trouble.
The verdict of the court was immediately welcomed by orthodox christian from the "United Russia" Mylonov. "...A proper and honorable decision. Congratulations!" - wrote the author of the controversial homophobic law on the "Exit's" social page. He had been following the developments of the trial since morning.
"We are engaged in charitable activities, including facilitating the execution of Russia's international obligations on human rights. All the information on the volume of our financing, including from abroad, and the content of our work is open and published annually on the website of Ministry of Justice."
Olga Lenkova, Exit's activist
Olga Lenkova, Exit's activist
On June 26 continue the proceedings against the top manager of "Exit", who may also face a fine.
Russian LGBT organizations, as observers point out, got the highest penalties provisioned under the law on non-govermental organizations. In the past the "foreign agents" had been fined no more than 300 thousand rubles (ˆ7,000). Thus, the courts have confirmed the legal penalties for NGO "The Voice", which is likely to disintegrate as a result.
Arguments of the Prosecutor's Office about the political activities of "Exit" were built on the basis of the documents allegedly obtained during the inspection. But defense attorney pointed to the court that the documents themselves had not been obtained from the organization. Their origin is unknown... In particular, the lawyer of "Exit" petitioned for the exclusion of the document called "application" from the case, that had no stamp of "Exit" on it. Despite the fact that Prosecutor Vereshchagin was unable to explain how and where this document had been obtained, the judge rejected the request.
The lawyer repeated the principal arguments of the defense: the organization is not involved in politics. Its work is aimed at philanthropic and charitable purposes. The prosecutors presented no evidence of precisely what "public foundations" the agency had been trying to "undermine". "Apparently, the prosecution believes that the public policy in this case implies persecution of LGBT citizens...", - concluded the gay activists.
What will happen to gay organizations of St. Petersburg, being the only those active in Russia, is still unknown. A trial is taking place in respect of even the charity fund, financing the largest "Russian LGBT Network".
Earlier, the "Side by Side" festival had been fined 500,000 rubles (ˆ11,600) for its political activities, and announced fundraising campaign to pay the fine. If the money is not collected, the festival's existence is threatened.
"Exit", by the way, announced the fundraising in advance. "Today prosecutors accuse us that our human rights work is the dictate of other countries, and our organization - a "foreign agent". "For refusing to enroll in the registry of "foreign agents" we are facing a fine of up to 1,6 million rubles..." - sais the official site of "Exit." "We are not a "foreign agent" and not anybody else's agent, we work for the benefit of Russian citizens, protecting their rights and helping the state to fulfill its obligations to protect the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation", - continue the gay activists, asking for support in a time of trouble.
